Your sweeping, gigantic, inspiring call to action doesn't move donors to action

Here are two online ads that were recently fed to me. The first one is from Trickle Up:

This one is from Doctors Without Borders

The Trickle Up call to action is bigger. It's asking us to be part of a major transformation of the entire world -- one that is actually possible. The Doctors Without Borders call to action is a micro-action: helping one refugee. Just one.

So which one is more likely to get clicks and donations?

Hands-down: The micro-action of Doctors Without Borders.

It is often argued that donors "should" support big-picture action rather than micro-action. Maybe they should. But they don't.

It's the human brain. We respond to things we can see (or imagine we can see). Not to large-scale or abstract things. When you base your fundraising on what donors "should" respond to, you fail to reach most donors.

Here's how your fundraising should make donors feel.

from Future Fundraising Now https://ift.tt/2OUstou